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SEOUL, South Korea, May 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- On April 25, 2012, the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare (MoHW) announced Korea's very own standards in accrediting medical institutions have been accredited by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua).

Accordingly, receiving accreditation from the Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation (KOIHA) will now mean the accredited institution is providing medical services to the international standards. This will also increase the public confidence in Korean medical institutions and boost their international status.

With reference to the International Accreditation Programme (IAP) of ISQua, there has been only one international programme that ACCREDITS the ACCREDITATORS since its launch in 1999. As for KOIHA, it is the first Korean accreditation entity to receive the ISQua Accreditation.

The Korean government has put the utmost efforts to have the country's accreditation standards accredited by ISQua including the establishment of KOIHA being part of such efforts. In March 2011, KOIHA initially submitted an application to attain the ISQua Accreditation followed by submitting the result of a self-evaluation as well as supporting documents in December of the same year. In November 2011, meanwhile, the Ministry made an official announcement regarding amendments to the medical law so that the accreditation standards would be revised. A final document answering queries by the ISQua was submitted in March 2012.

The ISQua Panel and Board meetings followed and eventually, KOIHA was approved by the ISQua Board and was accredited as of April 24, 2012.

KOIHA's Accreditation Standard will maintain its effect until April 24, 2016. An accreditation certificate as well as ISQua's final report will be given to KOIHA within two weeks. Kim Woen-jong, an official from MoHW, stated "The fact that the KOIHA was accredited by the ISQua proves the Korean healthcare system meets the world's standard, meaning medical services provided by Korean hospitals with the KOIHA Accreditation are safe."

Following are the top 15 South Korean Medical Institutions that have received the KOIHA accreditation: